FOXBOROUGH – Earlier this week, all signs pointed toward Aaron Hernandez returning to the field for the first time in a month. Now it’s not so clear.

Assuming there are not setbacks, Hernandez will travel with the New England Patriots to Seattle, where a determination on his availability for Sunday will be made after being evaluated by the training staff.

“We’ll have a day to evaluate it on Saturday and we’ll see where we’re at on Sunday. I don’t know; could be a game-time decision,” coach Bill Belichick said. “Maybe we’ll know sooner depending on what information we have today or maybe before we leave.”

The tight end returned to practice last week and was limited throughout the week. He was seen packing a travel bag in the Gillette Stadium locker, but his status for Sunday became murky after he was held out of Friday’s practice.

It is not known if he suffered a setback or was sidelined due to the wet and sloppy conditions.

Hernandez, who caught 79 passes for 910 yards last season, suffered a sprained ankle on the first drive of a Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and has not played since.